A Bad Day
by BrisGirl23
Summary: Spoiler: Based on "Artemis and the Atlantis Complexe". Artemis has changed, he is not himself anymore. And Butler has not quite figured the whole thing out and tries hard to deal with the situation.


**A Bad Day**

**SPOILERS** do not read if u have not read "Artemis and the Atlantis Complex". So this one-shot is set about two weeks before the beginning of the book. Butler centric, but a lot of Artemis as well. I do not own anything except the one-shots plot.

This was a bad day. Artemis knew it the moment he woke up, starring at his alarm clock. 4: 34 am. _Bad, really bad_.

So bad that Artemis closed his eyes and opend them again a minute later, trying to cheat the number god. It was an usual time for Artemis to wake up in the first place, as his normally quite acurate bio rythm would wake him every morning at precisely 6: 45, which actually was a good number, as 45 could be divided by 5 and the cross sum as well.

But he had suffered from a bad headache the evening before and went to bed earlier than usually.

After a long shower and some cornflakes, he now sat in his office preparing a speech for a meeting in Iceland next week.

He had been writing and erasing for quite a while when his headache returned, first slightly behind his temples then crawling up to his forehead where it increased until his whole head felt like a loudspeaker vibrating with hard core metal songs on full volume.

He groaned and started massaging his temples, which didnt really help. He heard the footsteps only seconds before a massiv hand knocked on the door, three times. _Not good_.

'Artemis, can i come in?' Butlers voice came from behind the massiv wooden door. _5 words, way better._

'Stopp it, Artemis'. He muttered to himself. 'This is rediciouls.'

'Come in if you like.' He replied emotionless. _Another 5 words. Excellent_. _No, not excellent. This number thing is really getting out of hand._

The door opend slowly and butler came in, a worried look on his face.

'Are you feeling better?' Artemis starred at the paper in front of him. _Four words. Not good at all... Artemis, get a grib on yourself! It is just a number!_

'Artemis? Are you alright?'

_Another four words. Now this, was an omen._ Artemis narrowed his eyes while he felt his guts twisting painfully.

Butler made a few steps towards him, Artemis counted the steps of his bodyguard by the sound they made on the wooden floor. One, two, three, four,...stop.

'Artemis, talk to me.' Butlers voice started to shake slightly, dripping from worry now.

This was more than Artemis could take. Was Butler trying to provoce him with all those fours?

His head snapped up, his voice sharp.

'I am doing fine, Butler.' _Five. Good._

His bodyguard raised an eyebrow, surprised at Artemis' angry tone.

'You sure? Do you still have that headache?' Artemis fist hit the table hard.

'4 plus 4 is eight. Death. Death.' he muttered, suddenly feeling the urge to arrange the papers in front of him into little piles. His hands started to follow this inner urge, trembling slightly while building a row of paperpiles on his desk. One row, five piles, each one consisting of five pages. He closed his eyes for just a second, slowly starting to feel save with all those fives.

Butler gulped, irritated by Artemis behavoiur.

He made the last couple of steps around the table and grabbed Artmis gentle by his shoulder.

'Artemis please, say something.. Are you not feeling well? Talk to me..'

Artemis head snapped up, his eyes meeting Butlers worried, confused gaze.

'Get out of this room.' His voice was calm now, but his body trembled.

Butler starred at him in disbelieve, still holding on to his principals shoulder. But before he could even think of something to say, Artemis opend his mouth again.

'Let go off my shoulder.' his tone was hard and emotionless now, but Butler couldn't be tricked. His principals face was even paler than when he had entered the room and he had locked his hands to fists, to suppress the had to decide fast. Something was really bothering, nearly terrifying his principal and it was his duty to find out what that was and to make sure that it won't trouble Artemis again. But on the other side were the direct orders that Artemis had just given him.

He let go off his principal but made no move to leave the office. Instead he walked around the table to stand on the other side and to face Artemis, eye to eye.

'Something is wrong with you. Something troubles you' Butler's face softend 'Please talk to me. I am really worried.'

He could see how Artemis' eyes narrowed and how he pressed his lips together till they formed a slim line. 'Four. Death.' He mumbled.

Butler was not worried anymore, he was absolutely terrified. Artemis wasn't himself.

'What is with 'Four'? What is with 'death'? Talk to me, Artemis!' He was nearly begging now and the unfamiliar feeling of desperation spred through his body and his mind.

Then Artemis exploded.

'What do you want from me? Who bought you? Who pays you? Tell me.. now!' Artemis screamed full of anger, but his words did not come naturally. He seemed to concentrate on each one of them. But Butler did not notice. He would later, when he replayed the scene again, trying to figure things out. Right now, Artemis words struck him like a slap across the face. He took a step backwards, his face now nearly as pale as the one of his principal.

'Who _bought_ me?' His voice shaking from anger and shock. 'What are you suggesting?'

'There!' Artemis screamed histerically 'You did it again! Four, four, four! Who are you working for? Human? Fairy?'

But before Butler could say anything, Artemis fell back onto his chair and started massaging his temples again.

'Leave. This is a direct order. You ought to obey.'

Butler starred at him for about a minute somewhere between shock, anger and sadness, then he turned around and left the room, quickly but unwillingly. He kept walking until he had reached his room and let himself fall onto his bed, now massaging his own temples as well.

His thoughts were racing, but a feeling of hurt slowly increased and blocked his mind. He sighed.

How could Artemis possibly think that Butler worked for someone else, that he betrayed his principal? After all they had been through. And how could Artemis talk to him like he was his manservant, Butler had always thought of them as friends. 'Obey' He mumbled. He really didnt appreciate Artemis using that word the way he just did.

Something was wrong. Butler was trained to recognise signs of mental illnesses as soon as they appear and Artemis was definitely showing quite a few here. How come his prinicpal did not trust him anymore? Paranoia. Certainly. And then the number thing. He had noticed it before. He had seen Artemis counting his steps, or counting objects, but by now he even seemed to count words. And four seemed to be the bad guy in the number gang. The really death-bringing bad guy. Butler gulped as it slowly began to dawn on him. Artemis was obsessing. Butler has never felt this helpless before. He took a deep breath and got up to his feet. He had sworn to protect Artemis until the die he died. And he would fullfill his oath, even if this time he would need to protect Artemis from his own mind.

U might have noticed that Im not a native speaker, but I hope it wasn't too bad ;)

Please review! **If there are enough people wanting me to, I might make this a longer story**. Main focus on Butler trying to deal with Artemis. Feedback please! =)


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